CONTRIBUTION AND CHALLENGE OF RSPO POLICY TOWARDS STRENGTHENING INDONESIA’S PALM OIL SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract

This study on Indonesia's growing palm oil industry has led to various issues of unsustainability such as environmental damage and biodiversity loss to various violations of social norms. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is an improvement in the global palm oil industry formed by various stakeholders and sectors of the palm oil industry that aims to create and encourage sustainable palm oil production based on credible global standards through voluntary certification. The purpose of this study is to analyze the implementation of RSPO policies related to the sustainability of Indonesian palm oil with descriptive analysis methods. For this reason, this research uses the green theory approach as the main theoretical concept which is then followed by a supporting theory, namely the theory of self-regulation. As a result, the study concludes that the RSPO's role in the implementation of its policies poses challenges to the strength of its legitimacy as a non-state actor. However, RSPO is able to contribute to the improvement of the sustainability of the Indonesian palm oil industry. In addition, RSPO certification also makes it easier for producers to export to the global market. Therefore, these challenges are less than the contribution or benefits of implementing RSPO certification.